Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg entered the round with a one-point lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship while Mercedes led in the Constructors' Championship ahead of Ferrari. The race was won by Hamilton, with Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo completing the podium, meaning Hamilton took over the lead in the Drivers' Championship after the race.

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In the week before the race, the FIA revised the rules governing pit-to-car communications following criticism from the teams in light of a penalty given to Nico Rosberg at the British Grand Prix for receiving assistance outside those allowed under the regulations; and in the aftermath of Sergio Pérez's brake failure and subsequent retirement from the Austrian Grand Prix, which Force India was particularly critical of in light of the safety implications arising from Pérez's accident.[3] The rules, first introduced during the 2015 season, were intended to crack down on driver coaching—stating that a competitor must drive the car "alone and unaided"—but allowing teams the scope to alert drivers to the imminent failure of components.[3] Under the revisions introduced for the Hungarian Grand Prix, a car must pit or be retired immediately if an issue arises that is deemed serious enough to warrant intervention from the team.[3] The revised regulations were poorly received, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel being particularly critical during interviews.

After introducing "baguette" kerbs at the Austrian Grand Prix as a means of policing track limits and prevent drivers from deliberately running wide to gain an advantage, the Hungarian Grand Prix saw the introduction of electronic monitoring at selected corners, with pressure-sensitive plates placed under kerbs to detect cars running wide, with the system tied to the car transponders to detect when a driver had run too wide.[4]